


save your breath, your heart has spoken

by Huppupbup (Nammish), TristanRambles



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: F/M, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Multi, Or an approximation thereof, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Slow Build, Slow Burn Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2019-08-06 06:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16383065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nammish/pseuds/Huppupbup, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TristanRambles/pseuds/TristanRambles
Summary: "I cannot end your tragedy, young knight." They whispered, dragging fingernails over his hairline, following his rapid pulse down to the base of his throat. "So instead I will make it beautiful."In which there is love, and friendship, and blood, and flowers growing where they shouldn’t.





	1. in which nothing is amiss

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
> **aka you played yourself hup good job**
> 
>  
> 
> **beta credit to** [Tristan_ATK](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tristan_ATK/pseuds/Tristan_ATK)  
>  who slaved beside me in google docs with advice, commentary, questions,  
> and a wonderful tolerance for my work style.

 

 

      

 

* * *

  
  
  
"Never again."  
   
Vivi’s face twisted with held-in laughter. "Oh, come on. It’s not that bad." She tugged another twig free, carefully pushing the tangled mess of blond hair out of her way. "Just a little dirt and leaves. That was the last one anyway, you big baby."  
   
She dumped the handful of sticks she'd collected over the last half hour and wiped her hands on her sweater. A moment later it occurred to Vivi their earlier trek through the woods had left her covered in dried mud and blades of grass. Trying to clean her hands with already stained wool wasn’t getting her anywhere.  
  
Without further thought, Vivi yanked the sweater over her head and tossed it into the nearest duffel bag. Pinpricks of gooseflesh were already creeping along her now bare arms; the thin undershirt left behind did little to keep out the crisp bite of autumn air. She scooted away from the open back doors to root for a replacement in their spare clothing.  
   
"And blood." Arthur hissed after her. He flinched as a cotton swab dragged over an open cut on his cheek. Lewis dragged his chin forward again, tutting. The ghost made no effort to hide his smile as he cleaned away the soil crusted over various scratches. Arthur scowled at both of them. "And a twisted ankle. And I've got _flowers_ in my mouth. Never again, Vivi. No more fairies!"  
   
"Fae." Lewis corrected, gently tugging Arthur's face back towards the light. The floating wisps he'd summoned didn’t provide bright or steady illumination. They _were_ easier on tired human eyes than shining a flashlight into someone’s face, though.  
   
"I don't care⎯ow!" Arthur jerked again, but this time Lewis was ready. He followed through to scrub at the particularly large gash scoring a line under Arthur’s left eye. "Stop that! You can't skin me with cotton!"  
   
Lewis huffed, but his smile didn't waver. "I can try. Hold still."  
   
"I agree with Arthur. No more fae." Mystery grumbled from where he'd sat near Lewis' feet, pawing at his neck beneath his collar. He'd long since gotten brushed clear of brambles and matted fur. All the nicks he'd suffered were already cleaned as well. And yet, he was still absurdly _itchy_ after their jaunt through the wilderness. "If I have _fleas_ again…"  
  
"⎯we'll give you a _bath_." Vivi called back. She'd draped herself over the front seats, idly kicking her legs for balance. Arthur caught the movement on his left side and made a point of looking toward the night sky instead. Years of travel had prepared him for avoiding Vivi's complete disregard for the limitations of skirts. "And you just don’t like them because they’re prettier than you."  
   
"I dislike them because they _defy reality_." Mystery scratched at one ear, refusing to look back as well. Arthur tried to nod in support. His movement was limited. Lewis was forcing him to raise his head and stay there. The cut snaked over Arthur's jawline then back toward his earlobe, wicked despite being shallow. Lewis chased it with antiseptic the whole way. "Furthermore, they’re untrustworthy."  
   
"Says the kitsune."  
   
Mystery rolled his eyes, "I have _never_ lied⎯"  
  
"Nope." Vivi's unseen grin added a teasing lilt to the word. "You just didn't tell the whole truth. What other mythological creatures do that?"  
   
"I am grossly offended." Mystery adjusted the glasses on his snout with one paw, and smoothed the mane of fur on one side of his face.  
  
Arthur reached out and patted the van’s floor, pleased when Mystery slid into arm's reach. He absently ran his fingers through the thick, red fluff on the dog’s cheek. "They’re creepy either way." He was still shivering at the thought of those too large eyes and delicate features. The way they held themselves. Lit by twilight even in full sunshine, angles highlighted and shadows deep. The way their off-color skin was flawless. The way their client talked, every word laced in alien perfection. The way they spoke as if each syllable was meant to be seen rather than heard. The way they pressed graceful fingers to his throat. Leaning down to stare him directly in the face, cat-slit pupils blown wide and knowing. Too _intimate_ for a human stranger, let alone an inhuman one.  
  
It gave him the willies.  
  
He could still feel the cool touch. It prickled across any skin his shirt didn't cover, as real as if the fae had still been present. They had breezed away into the forest once the fees were paid. Arthur rubbed warmth back into his arm and neck, wincing. What had they meant _tragedy_...?  
  
They’d been doing so much _better._..  
  
Vivi let out a sound of triumph, breaking him out of the memory. "Lewis, I’m stealing your jacket."  
  
"I have a jacket?" The ghost didn't look away from his one-man mission. He'd abandoned the cotton balls and was now dealing out a furious scrubbing to Arthur's face with a Q-tip. "How did you get _sand_ in this...?"  
   
Vivi tumbled back into view, throwing both legs over the van's bumper. "Yeah. This one, remember?" She plucked at the thin autumn coat, oversized as it was on her tiny frame, and fought to zip it up.  
  
Despite Lewis' best efforts, the cut wasn’t going to get any cleaner. Beads of red were beginning to form at its edges the more he fought with it. Sighing in defeat, the ghost looked up. He froze with a stutter of unneeded breath, dark eyes widening in recognition. The bandage he'd been about to place on Arthur's cheek dangled from his fingers for a moment and fell to the asphalt. Arthur glanced at Lewis' expression, frowned, and looked over his shoulder to see what had him so unsettled.  
  
Oh.  
  
Oh _no_.  
  
The jacket was an old favorite, something between a blouson and a windbreaker. It was formal enough that Lewis had been able to wear it while serving in the family restaurant, but casual enough that it hadn’t gotten him the odd looks his vest and ascots had. He'd loved it for how light and comfortable it had been. The soft cotton-blend lining and faux leather outer layer made it versatile. Perfect for unpredictable fall weather. It had elastic cuffs that buttoned into place, and that meant Lewis could easily roll them out of the way as he liked. The benefit of the high collar was somewhat understated with Vivi's scarf stuffed inside. For Lewis though, it had been a favored feature, something that he could pull around his throat when the wind picked up.  
  
He'd gotten it a few months after graduating high school, and had bought a size too big on purpose. Then he'd grown into it barely a year after. It had been a little tight in the shoulders once he'd broadened out, had fallen short of his waistline by an inch or so. Lewis had kept it all the same, for the sentimental value if nothing else. It had been a good jacket. It was his favorite colors: warm violet and soft, pale lavender. It had large, roomy pockets. It didn't fit well anymore, but that was fine. It had instead become something he'd packed in the van.  
  
One more thing they’d carried around _just in case_.  
  
Most of his old clothing was long since rotated out. Lewis didn't exactly need them anymore after all. Anything he wanted to wear, he could manifest on himself with a bit of practice. He hadn't ever bothered with jackets and the like. Lewis didn't actually suffer from temperature differences, even if he could feel them.  
  
Seeing the jacket again was an unexpected shock.  
  
Arthur coughed into one hand, "You, uh...you okay there, Lew?"  
   
Lewis blinked, or at least did his new approximation of a blink when he wasn’t focusing. The glowing purple of his eyes slowly flickered out and back in, dim in his confusion. Vivi frowned. Her gaze darted between the jacket and her boyfriend, and she grimaced.  
  
"Crap. Sorry, hun." She moved to shuck the coat off. "I forgot."

" _No!_ " Lewis flared back to life, his hair wisping up in a flurry of ghostfire and his eyes re-focusing with new light. "No, it's fine! I'm sorry I just...I didn't realize I even still had that." The words fell flat, an obvious attempt to shy from the truth. Lewis had faded from the present like that several times before. Usually, it happened around objects of serious emotional importance. One of many reasons his belongings⎯especially his clothes⎯were no longer stored in the van.  
   
"You don't have to act like it doesn't bother you." Vivi was still fighting to draw the zipper back down. It had jammed below her ribs. "I wasn't thinking. We already know how hard it's been for you being around your old things⎯"  
   
Lewis stepped forward, and a ghostly afterimage wafted after him. It dispersed as if made of smoke before he'd reached her. In that same moment, the street clothes darkened into his pitch black tuxedo. The bone-plate details were still forming, indistinct and pale in the growing light of his hair. One hand cupped Vivi's cheek.  
   
"I like you in it."  
   
His thumb swept over the curve of her face, affection bleeding through the motion. The entire atmosphere of the van shifted with it, warmth blossoming out like a rising chord. Vivi stared up at him. Her eyes had gone round, and the glimmer of stars were beginning to spark in them. They always did when Lewis' ghostly nature became more obvious. Her desire to learn, to observe, was swelling within her chest. A million questions were shining brightly through her body language. She trailed her hands over the cuffs of his suit sleeves, grasping at random in anticipation. Lewis bent down at the same time she rose up to meet him, drifting into each other as naturally as a song.  
  
Arthur could feel his heartbeat in his throat, a persistent ache that matched the locket above Lewis' lapel. It thudded in his ears. Spread down to his hands and left a weight in the pit of his stomach. He tried to swallow, fighting down the urge to choke. The slow waves of heat coming off the ghost left the air dizzyingly thin. Arthur wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn’t. It was harder to think of the why, but his eyes were drawn to the affectionate crescendo between his two best friends.  
  
Pain was growing in his chest, weak from the distance but as thorned and single-minded as it ever was when he saw them together like this. Tendrils of fire swept through the night, encircling the couple in purple and pink light, sparking as if they were tiny fireworks. Arthur's eyes were beginning to sting. He opened his mouth, ready to warn them that they were _doing it again_ , to warn them their feet were no longer touching the ground and that music was started to swell in the background, unheard but definitely _felt_.  
  
He couldn't speak. Didn't want to interrupt. The sound threatened to sweep them all under, and he couldn't catch his breath enough for words _anyway_...  
  
Mystery barked.  
  
The noise was almost more a yip, high-pitched and sudden. It echoed with power and the lulling beat of the moment shattered. All three of them jolted free.  
  
Lewis' vest and dress shirt snapped back into existence around him. His pants were deep purple once more, and sneakers were again on his feet. The space in front of Vivi was empty. He had disappeared in a rush of misplaced air, ending up ten feet away and gripping his locket. Light pulsed from the anchor, in time with a steady beat. Lewis' eyes and hair had gone wild, blazing around his human face. Motes of flame exploded into being, brilliant in the pitch blackness, darting through the air in a haphazard display.  
  
"Sorry!" He yelped, panic in his voice. "Sorry! I didn’t mean to!"  
   
Vivi tore the jacket off and tossed it into the front seat. It hadn't even landed before she was jumping down from the back of the van and rushing to Lewis. She took his face in her hands and dragged him to her eye-level.  
  
"Are you okay?" She gasped, visibly trembling. "Lewis, _focus_ , babe, are you okay?" He curled around her, shrinking down so that the nearly two feet in height he had on her no longer mattered, and held on. She in turn wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him pick her up. "Please say you’re okay..."  
   
He didn’t answer, and Vivi turned so that her cheek rested on his shoulder. She was murmuring soft nothings against his cheek and puntucating them with feather-light kisses. Lewis seemed to refocus in halting stages: his skin regaining a semblance of color, his clothes growing tangible. He had lowered to the ground again, and was standing with her held close.  
   
"Love you." Vivi had gotten just loud enough to hear. She pulled him into a kiss, longer than the ones she'd been showering on him but no less tender. "Love you so _much_."  
   
"Love you too." He answered, rocking slowly with the weight of the words.  
  
She breathed out and sank into him. "You back?"  
   
"I think so...?" Lewis drew up, his hair still more chaotic and flame-like than the usual illusion of what he’d had in life. He breathed too, taking his time with it, more for the familiarity of the exercise than anything. "I think I'm good...I just...I wasn't..." He looked back up toward the van, making eye contact with Arthur for the first time in several minutes.  
  
Arthur forced himself to exhale. Tension hummed beneath his skin. When he looked away from his friends, Arthur found that his metal fingers had warped the edge of the van's bed. As he pulled them free, shallow dents in the steel became visible. His grip had tightened when he'd seized up...he hadn't even noticed. The awful throbbing of his heart had lowered back into his chest, a dull pain that was easy to ignore. The back of his mouth was still coated in something acidic. His tongue felt too swollen to risk speaking, but at least Arthur didn't have to worry that he might gag anymore.  
  
He flashed them a wobbly smile and a thumbs up.  
  
Mystery padded up to his owner, stopping only once he was close enough to lean against her leg. "I think that's enough for tonight. We're _all_ exhausted and it's not doing us any favors."  
   
"I'm a ghost. I can't get tired." Lewis tried, but the words quivered and his mouth didn't quite match the movements needed to make them. A deadbeat had formed and was shoving its head beneath one of his arms, trilling softly in distress. Even without the little spirit giving Lewis away, his poker face was no better than it had been when he was alive.  
  
Mystery turned so that he could glare up at the tallest of his charges, radiating disapproval.  
  
"Alright," Lewis threw one hand up in surrender. The other arm remained around Vivi's torso in a loose embrace. "I’m going. I’m going."  
   
He pressed a small kiss to Vivi's forehead, then faded from sight. The deadbeat followed suit, merging into the leftover glow of spectral energy. It wound down into the hovering locket, now open and beating with less intensity than before. Once the golden lid had snapped shut, it fell into Vivi's waiting palm. She held the anchor to her lips, breathing in slow and out, warming the metal as she centered herself again. Finally, she turned back to the van. A series of emotions paraded over her face as Arthur locked eyes with her. She finally settled on determined, cheeks flushed and fists clenched, and tucked the locket into her scarf. Their leader was back in full force. Vivi marched to the open doors of the van.  
  
"Bedtime, Kingsmen." She pointed to emphasize her command. Arthur was already stretching and making his way to the front seat.  
  
"I'm not sleeping in this forest. There're satyrs in here." Arthur sidestepped her attempt to haul him back inside the vehicle. He shifted his weight from foot to foot in challenge. The movement also served to back him out of arm's reach. Judging from Vivi's raised eyebrow, she'd definitely noticed. He couldn't help the little grin. He was faster than her, always had been. "I'm gonna drive to the highway at least, Vi. And you can't stop me⎯"  
   
"I can." Mystery had somehow moved behind him. Arthur let out a squawk as his heel caught on the dog's side. The sound cut short as Vivi grabbed his hand and held him in mid-sprawl. It was her turn to grin now. She was stronger than him, always had been. She was also a dirty cheater, having her dog tag-team him like this. Mystery continued, unfazed by his stumble: "And I said _all_ of us. You're in no state to drive."  
  
"When he's right, he's right." Vivi said firmly. "We’re going to bed. The fae said we were safe in the woods till nightfall tomorrow. We'll head out first thing in the morning, when we're not tripping over ourselves."  
   
"But⎯"  
  
"No buts." She hauled Arthur upright, spun him in place, and gave him a forceful push into the van's back. "Get the mattress set up. Mystery and I are going to throw up a small perimeter. In case 'safe' doesn’t cut it with all the little shits who think pranking humans is fun. And then we're all crashing for a couple of hours."  
   
Arthur’s mouth opened, but he swallowed his protests when Vivi set one fist on her hip and leveled him with one of _those_ looks. The I-will-tell-every-parent-or-guardian-who-knows-you look. She'd do it, too. The last thing he needed was another gauntlet of lectures. All the worry and disappointment left a sour taste in his mouth.  
  
...or that could have been another flower.  
  
He let out a sullen breath, and wasn't all that surprised to see a golden yellow petal fly free from his mouth. Vivi's nose scrunched in surprise. The moment broke as her gaze followed the petal on its lazy descent through the air between them. Arthur supposed that worked as well as anything else for a comeback.  
   
"'Night, Vi." He huffed, and dragged a finger through his mouth as he clamored up into the back of his van. No more petals it seemed, though he’d have to wash the taste out.  
  
"Goodnight, Arthur." Vivi called from outside, her voice growing softer as she moved away with Mystery.  
  
He listened to their footsteps circling the vehicle as he set out the blankets and unrolled the old futon. They were speaking softly, but the metal walls hid their words. Arthur wasn't bothered. It was likely some incantation he'd heard a dozen times before. The quiet drone of their voices was almost soothing. A bit of familiar background noise amid the eerie silence of the fae forest. It was probably for the best that he hadn't tried to drive; his eyelids were already starting to droop. He draped his vest over the back of one seat and slumped into the mass of bedding.  
  
And spat out _another_ petal.  
  
Ugh.  
  
Never again.

 

* * *

 

 


	2. in which there is almost a second breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> **aka i hope ya’ll appreciate this cause i have to deal with flowers puns constantly now  
> **  
>  aka in which we all receive an important reminder about what you should and shouldn’t eat  
> aka writer's block is hell but twenty plus pages is a hell of a thing  
> aka what do mayflowers bring?
> 
>  
> 
> **beta credit** to [TristanRambles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TristanRambles/pseuds/TristanRambles)  
>  who weathered through overtime, sickness, exhaustion, and just plain ol' lack of  
> inspiration, and never stopped cheering me on in spite of all that and his own crazy  
> real life events.
> 
> * * *

 

  

* * *

 

 

He woke to the sound of rain. Pale blue light filtered through the storm clouds. It cast the van interior in varying, dreary shades of gray. The bright red of his favorite throw turned a murky purple, washed out in the dim glow of morning. Shadows played over the blanket and leather seats. They raced parallel to trails of raindrops on the windshield. The rear-view mirror decoration spun in a lazy circle overhead. Its grin was frozen in wicked glee. The odd glint of muted sunshine flickered over the plastic ghost's sunglasses. 

Outside, tree branches creaked under soaking wet leaves in the distance. A dull rumble of thunder followed close behind. Soft conversation drifted from somewhere in the rear of the van. The constant patter of rain overhead to drowned the words out before they were clearly heard. 

Arthur sighed. 

Should have known the weather would turn. 

He grasped the steering wheel and hauled himself upright, peering toward the back of the van. The doors were wide open to the downpour. Vivi leaned against his tool shelf with her legs tucked beneath her. Mystery's head was propped in her lap, his short tail moving over the floor in lazy, contented sweeps. Vivi spoke at a low volume—probably because Arthur had been asleep until now—and ran gentle fingers over the dog's back. Every so often, she laughed under her breath. Mystery huffed along with her, a sure sign that he was stifling his own amusement. 

It was nice, seeing them like this again. Arthur slung one arm over the seat and let the moment linger on while he fought to wake up. Without coffee, it was a miserable, slow process. Arthur had gotten used to it. Certain undead puffy-haired individuals enjoyed rationing his caffeine intake. 

A sharp peal of laughter burst from Vivi, and Arthur refocused in time to see her give Mystery a fond shove. There was no force put into the motion. Mystery's head lifted long enough to reveal a wide doggy grin, his tail a blur of wagging. Then the canine flopped hard back onto her leg. He said something else, low and too pleased with himself.  Vivi's shoulders shook as she hushed her pet, holding in her own furious giggles. 

Slowly...the mirth fell from her posture. She spoke again, but Arthur's ears began to ring. The sound started inside his own head and reverberated outward. His eyes watered at the same time his throat began to tighten. Vivi's words were lost in the piercing tone. She gestured out toward the curtain of rainfall and continued whatever she'd been speaking about, muted by the ongoing noise. It faded into an echo at the same time her mouth closed. One of Vivi's hands stretched palm up into the rain, cupping some of the water and drawing it back to her. 

She looked thoughtful. Sad. 

Well. 

Best break the moment then, before something too serious came up. 

"Hey, Vi." He called, and Vivi tilted her head back to show she'd heard. Her mouth opened and then closed into a serious line, leaving the exchange she'd been having with her dog on pause. Mystery rolled his head back to peer at him. He didn't seem annoyed by the interruption. 

 Vivi patted the dog's head. The briefest smile touched her face before she looked back toward the rain. "Morning, Arthur." 

Mystery yawned wide, hurrying to turn away so his open mouth wouldn't be visible. The short glimpse Arthur caught was enough to catch his next breath in his chest. There was no doubt Mystery saw his unease. The dog's pointed ears flicked back as he shot a glance over his shoulder. His tail thumped once in greeting, rather than risking speech. 

Arthur pulled himself over the seats and half-crawled to them. What better way to leave old nerves behind then to do so on foot? 

"Where's Lew? It's kind of early..." 

Vivi had gone awfully still. Her unbrushed hair cast a deep shadow over her face. Her eyes were angled down at the handful of small rocks she had gathered in her free hand. Studying something about them. More of the stones hovered out of reach, lit from some unknown source beneath the mist. Arthur dropped over the bumper and padded a few steps from the vehicle, chasing shapes in the mist as he went. He straightened his clothing out, shaking and smoothing the fabric of his shirt and pants. The puffy vest always ended up with bunched padding when he slept in it. He gave it special attention, realigning the cotton stuffing with careful touches. 

"The rain's slowing down." Vivi mumbled from behind him, strangely reverent. She hadn't moved, but somehow, he knew that she was cupping both hands together. Cradling something important to her chest. 

Arthur paused and looked to the sky. 

It...wasn't raining... 

A thick layer of fog was covering the ground, and huge spires of rock jutted up in the corners of his vision. If he turned for a better look, they shifted back, staying out of sight. Rosy swirls followed each movement, billowing up to his knees. He pushed one of the floating chunks of stone trying to obstruct his view of Vivi away, and found that dozen more had drifted into the space between them. Far off streaks of light were moving toward the horizon. Meteor trails lit the deep blues of the sky, racing to land somewhere beyond the tree line. It was snowing fallen stars. 

...but not raining. 

...right. 

"I didn't wear my vest to bed." He started. The words felt stale, his confidence in this approach long since exhausted. Dreams didn't do _logic._ Granted, neither did most of the supernatural and he made that his everyday business. Still. The point stood. "That blanket isn't in the van anymore, because Vivi borrowed it and left it at work...a month ago?" That was two. Arthur needed at least three, according to all the pamphlets he'd been forced to read over the past year. He didn't put much stock in three as a magic number—too long with only three of their group led to nothing but trouble. 

Focus, Kingsmen. 

"And..." He floundered. Number three wasn't coming without a fight. "...I didn't fall asleep in the front seat." 

It had taken a moment to dawn on him. That last one was easy to forget after everything that had happened over the past year and change. Arthur had slept in the front more often than not before... 

Well. 

_Before_. 

A kick of his shoe sent a few pieces of gravel skittering away. They bounced over the long-degraded pavement and disappeared from view. Reverberations echoed after them. The sound bounced off stone walls he couldn't see beyond the crest of trees and the too-close night sky hid. The fog thickened, rolling over the ground like steam. It was freezing, and Arthur folded his arms close to his chest. He hated how cold it always got when this happened. 

"Vivi." Arthur combed shaking fingers through his sleep-tousled hair. Might as well get this show on the road. "Where's Lewis." 

On cue, Vivi's head tilted up. As he'd expected, no facial features greeted him. Nothing but a smooth expanse of skin, slightly indented where her eyes and mouth should have been. She was still cupping her hands in front of her. Golden light poured from what she held. It slipped like water between her fingers, drifting in smoke-like tendrils. 

"Who's Lewis?" Her voice had gone high and eerie. 

"Right." Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and groused, "Can we skip this part? No offense, but you're  _really_  creepy. I'm sure it says a lot about my psyche or whatever, but I kinda just want to sleep. I could do without the whole 'secret revelation of my untapped desires.' Or whatever the hell Dr. Falconstein called this crap last week." 

He opened his eyes, and might have been relieved to see that no-face Vivi had indeed vanished. Except. So had his damn  _car_. Arthur now stood alone in the wilderness, surrounded only by gray fog. The old road stretched out beneath his feet. Rows upon rows of bare, grasping trees stretched against the blank night sky. 

"And my subconscious continues to be an asshole." 

Just to be safe, he checked his left arm. 

Still very metal and not green. No eye in the palm glaring out at him. It didn't even spark or catch fire or jerk up to choke him. ...Well, that was nice at least. 

Something in the trees moved, darting from the shadow of one tree trunk to the next. Arthur froze. He couldn't help the reflexes that had spent the last year saving him from kicking in. Old panic crept into his stomach. His breathing faltered, changing to shallow gasps that inched toward hyperventilation. There was adrenaline starting to ebb through him. A crawl of nervous energy that left him high-strung, and hyper-focused on each twig snapping underfoot in the darkness. 

"Mystery?" His voice quailed. "I really don't wanna." 

There was a flash of dull white on the other side of the road, and he scrambled to face it. Too late. Sickly green clouds were swept from him in a wide circle. They swirled in an unhurried orbit, then rushed back in to cover the ground and his feet. Streams of more hazy smog poured down from harshly-lit, jagged holes in the sky. It roiled like a living thing. 

The stars were gone. The sky had turned dark and cold, arching up and up and up. It grew into long stalactites that stretched back down toward him. They came to wicked points, like rocky fangs. 

He closed his eyes. 

"I'm fine." Arthur breathed. "I'm  _fine_. I'm not scared." He clutched his prosthetic closer and hunched down. As if a few extra inches of flesh were going to do anything to protect the arm he'd already lost. "I am  _not scared_. Mystery's my  _friend_  and he'd never hurt me and we're  _fine_  and I'm not—" 

Something growled. 

Right in front of him. 

"I'm not scared." He peeled his eyes open, shaking as he forced himself to grit his teeth and raise his head. The thick blanket of fog by his feet seemed undisturbed. A few puffs of thin steam followed each breath as Arthur gulped down air and forced it out again. He could do this. Just look up and everything would be  _fine_. 

He looked up. 

Red eyes. 

_Teeth_. 

Arthur's thin resolve snapped. 

He bolted. 

Which in a nightmare was completely pointless? Of course Mystery was going to chase him. He could hear the rapid footfalls keeping pace. Could barely make out Mystery's large form moving in the inky blackness past the trees, tails waving like a banner. If Mystery had wanted to catch him, there'd be no chance of escape. He knew that the  _feeling_  of being hunted was the actual threat here. No real predator would take so long tearing after him. Even though he knew better, the truth didn't matter now.  

Arthur's heart pounded hard enough to make his ribs ache. His feet carried him faster than he could reason out the lack of danger. The forest around him was a mess of blurry, reaching branches that stretched out to grasp at him. Wooden claws tore at his legs, tripped his feet, and left long scratches over his face. His cheek stung. 

Mystery wouldn't hurt him. Not  _really_. 

His pace faltered, and a snarl came from behind him. A sound like wood splintering. 

...Or bone. 

Arthur sped up again. 

He couldn't do this. Not here. 

Not with the stone floor abruptly giving way to red, velvety carpet. The cave walls were hurrying in, overlapping the trees with too green leaves. They merged into murky gray-brown and finally a too bright mix of pink and purple. Minuscule lights few up around him. Snarling shapes leered as he rushed past. Mystery was still somewhere behind, snapping at his heels, driving him faster. Other shapes joined him, blurred figures that Arthur could have made out if he slowed down enough to try. He didn't. 

Push through, had to push through because any moment... 

Cliff. 

Arthur skidded to a stop, digging his metal hand into the ground and catching hold. It left him panting. His legs below the knees dangled over the edge, but he wasn't falling. That was the important part. The world and his head were pounding. Arthur laid still, trying to force the tightness out of his limbs. If he could drag himself back up... 

He heard slow, measured footsteps and closed his eyes before he could see. Here came the worst of it. A whole year, and Arthur still wasn't over this. It was easy in the daylight. When Vivi was chattering happily about what they'd done together yesterday and would do tomorrow. When Mystery was shoving his head under an arm to steal from someone's plate. When Lewis was smiling. 

Then Arthur fell asleep and he was right  _fucking_  back here. 

The footsteps had stopped. 

Silence rained in the cave around him, waiting patiently.  

"Sure." Arthur bit out. He could feel bile in his mouth and his legs were jelly. He shoved himself to his feet and dusted his shirt off in a show of bravado. "You win. Let's just get it over wi—" 

He stopped short. 

No Lewis. 

"That's...uh." He scrubbed at his eyes and looked again. Nothing. "That's...new..." 

What else could he  _say_? The dream had been altered a few times, but Lewis there and him here and...the part that followed after... The central focus of these nightmares for the better part of nine months had been on this moment. Everything else sucked... 

...but this was the part that sent him screaming through four prescriptions in half as many months. 

And...Lewis wasn't here. 

"...Okay. Does this mean I get to wake up now?" He tried. Silence was the only answer the cave offered. "...worth a shot." 

Arthur turned back to the ledge and peered down. It looked much the same as he remembered. Then again, he supposed it would. Since his brain liked to treat him to a reconstruction of the whole shebang every so often. What else  _would_  his brain work off of  _besides_  his memory? 

"Look guys, it's been fun," He called down, trying to rub warmth into his arm and shove confidence into his voice. Fake it till you make it, or whatever. If it got him a freebie this once, he'd never make fun of the motivational posters in his doctor's office again. ...Well. Okay, he'd make fun of them silently. And less often. ...or at least only on special occasions. "But I think I'm gonna head out. I'm kinda partied out for the night." 

...Nothing. 

"Great crowd." 

Arthur turned around to hopefully leave and all but jumped out of his skin. Faceless Vivi stood before him. She was so close there was no reason he wouldn't have already known she was there. 

"So instead." Her shrill voice echoed in his ears, his sight going blurry with the pain lancing through his head and chest. Thin hands—not Vivi's hands, wrong wrong _wrong_ —pressed into his throat. Thumbs found the rise of his arteries beneath the skin and pushed down into them nails first. Fingers squeezed. "I will make it  _beautiful_." 

Vivi guided him backwards, walking with him step by step as he struggled for air. Despite having no eyes, he could feel her bearing down, staring into some fathomless secret within him. Fine cracks were running along her featureless skin. Each fracture went arching over her cheeks and into her hairline. The cave was filled with her words, warping them into strange, inhuman cries. They rang through him, singing even his bones alight. He pushed at her. Vivi drove him relentlessly onward. 

His foot slid over the edge, finding nothing but air. As the weight of her sent him reeling, gravity caught hold and dragged them down. Arthur saw the cave's ceiling rotate into his vision. Those same tiny lights drifted past her, floating up and away to disappear in the blackness overhead. The air was already beginning to scream in his ears as they tilted back. Vivi's grip on his throat tightened. Spiderweb cracks rushed across her smooth face, deepening and flaking off what almost looked like clay. Past the outer shell, she was empty inside. The world narrowed down into her drawing in closer to him as she threw both him and herself from the cliff. 

They fell together. 

Arthur slammed awake, sucking air into his lungs in full preparation to scream. Instead of oxygen, he got a mouthful of flowerheads for his trouble. He started to choke, clawing at his face to clear the unexpected blockade of petals. The elbow of his metal arm wrenched sideways in his panic, catching his bottom-most ribs as it struck his side. Unable to stop the instinct and disoriented by the shock of pain, Arthur inhaled hard. What few flowers he'd managed to get free fell back into his mouth with a vengeance. They scratched his mouth and throat, tearing their way down as he heaved around them. 

A hand thudded on his back, and a second pulled the collection of wildflowers out of his way. In their wake, Arthur was left coughing into his fist. He'd definitely swallowed a few. The leftover plants hurt but came free with little trouble otherwise. 

"Easy! Arthur, you good? Do you need anything?" 

"Water—" 

He broke off in a wheeze and coughed harder. There was a rustling, and a plastic bottle was shoved into his hands. It took a moment of fighting before he could twist the cap away. Once the bottle was open, he took three swallows in quick succession. Arthur heaved another breath and gagged. Morning cotton mouth was awful enough without choking on a shop's worth of wildflowers. Everything tasted like it was trying to burn its way through his digestive tract and back out his mouth. He blinked to clear his eyes and squinted. 

There was a mosaic of colors all over his lap and blankets. And his chest. And the van floor. And trapped in the seam lines of his prosthetic fingers. Only a small number of the blooms were matted with saliva. The rest were pristine and haphazardly flung in huge mounds on top of him. 

"...did...you cover me in flowers...?" 

Vivi's smile came into focus at his shoulder. It was a sheepish little thing, and felt very unlike her. "...I might have?" 

"Why?" 

"Because there were flowers?" She looked a bit less worried the longer he spoke without coughing. After a moment, she helped lift the bedcovers off him, shunting the majority of the plants to the side. Most of them were different-colored daisies. A few poppies stood out, and what looked very much like huge violets. The rest he couldn't even begin to guess at. "And you were asleep." 

"...I almost asked why again, but I'm pretty sure the answer is because you took pictures." 

"Maybe I did." Vivi's mouth curved farther up on one side. She leaned into his right side and tried to appear innocent, gazing at him through her long eyelashes. "Maybe I didn't. Maybe I changed my phone background this morning. Looks like we'll never know." 

He sneezed, then sputtered as his tongue caught against the roof of his mouth. A petal was trapped somewhere in his throat. "Ugh. Very funny." 

"I thought you'd appreciate it." Vivi reached out to brush the leftover wildflowers away from his shirt. Her smile was unrepentant. A rainbow of flower debris littered the futon. "Didn't think you'd try to eat them though. I made you breakfast and everything!" 

"You made breakfast." Arthur's tone went flat. "You. Made breakfast." 

"Well." 

"Uh huh." "I  _opened_  breakfast." 

"Uh huh." 

"Look, buster." She puffed up and jabbed a finger into his chest. The petal dislodged with his squeal and stuck to the thigh of her pajama pants. It was a brilliant purple with thin magenta veins, fading down into a warm, speckled orange. Vivi brushed it away with her free hand to join its brethren. "I didn't slave over a hot stove for you to insult my cooking." 

"Sure." Arthur nodded along. He rubbed his chest where she'd poked him. Moving his arm pulled at the still forming bruise, and he held back a wince. "So, what's for breakfast?" 

"Granola bars." She answered, dropping three unopened snacks into his lap. "At least until we get closer to a rest stop. The map says we're only an hour or so away." 

"Wow. Did you wrap these yourself, or am I just lucky?" He picked one of the bars up and began shucking the plastic off of it. Peanuts, apple chunks, almonds, raisins, and granola. Breakfast of champions right there. Arthur looked toward the rear doors of the van, spying early daylight through the small windows. The floor beneath him rocked and groaned as they move. "How long have you been up?" 

"Not long. Twenty minutes, maybe." Vivi rolled her shoulders back and stretched. "It's only seven. Mystery is still snoozing, but Lew woke up before anybody and decided it was time to get going." 

"I picked the flowers first." Lewis called from the driver's seat. His eyes darted up to the rearview mirror long enough for Arthur to see how self-satisfied he was. "Burying you in them wasn't my idea, though. I thought they looked nice." 

"You are the only ghost I know who gets up at the crack of dawn to pick daisies." Arthur bit into his first meal of the day and frowned. Was the granola stale? Or...soggy? He rolled the mouthful over his tongue thoughtfully, then swallowed. It...tasted fine for the most part. The usual flavors were all there. Nuts with the crisp understatement of apple. Chewy sweetness from raisins and granola. ...and... 

Bitter. 

...spicy?  

He checked the package. It'd be just like Lewis to find the one brand of cereal bar that added capsaicin to the mix. Diced jalapenos or something equally unconventional. 

"I'm the only ghost you know at  _all_." 

"Which in no way disproves what I said." Arthur took another bite and scrunched up his nose. "Vi, did you do something to these? They taste off."  

"Lemme see." Vivi plucked the rest from him and popped it into her mouth whole. She chewed thoughtfully, and frowned at him. "Hhhnmm hnn whm mm..." 

"Swallow, Vi." 

She did. "I said it tastes fine to me. Did you get more flowers in your mouth?" 

"I don't think so?" He checked, running a finger over his molars and the inner flesh of his cheeks. Nothing came away, through his throat felt  _full_  of something. "No...just the one. Maybe it's an aftertaste..." 

"Maybe it's morning breath." 

Arthur gasped, drawing back. "Lewis! Vivi is being  _mean_  to me!" 

"Be nice, Vivi." Lewis' laugh followed after; still rich despite being muffled behind one hand. "Or I get to pick where we stop. No pancakes." 

"Tattletale." Vivi whispered, but the corners of her mouth kept twitching up. She pushed a metal canister into his hands. "Try to wash the taste out. The canteens got coffee in it. And then—" Vivi gave him a pointed look. A very specific one, complete with sternly drawn eyebrows and an unforgiving frown. Arthur fought back a groan and flopped back onto the futon. Maybe if he died, she'd let him off. "—don't start. Pill time."  

"You're awful." 

"Suck it up, buttercup." Vivi dragged the appropriate backpack into her lap. She unzipped it with a dramatic flourish, but the motion lacked honest enthusiasm. She wasn't looking forward to this either. "We gotta take 'em." 

"Says who." 

"Says your  _boss_." She pitched one of his prescription bottles and struck him above the eyebrow. Vivi's aim was good even this early in the morning. "And your doctor. And Lewis. And my dog, who I'll have  _sit_  on you." Arthur grumbled and angled the coffee into his mouth. With a huff of surrender, he fought the medication's top open and swallowing two tiny pills. Then more coffee. 

He shuddered. The spicy taste was now mixed with  _medicine_. "Blargh." 

"And these." Vivi pressed another bottle into his palm, stealing away the first. "At least you only have two." She eyed her own spread of medication with distaste and called out to her boyfriend, sweetly: "Lewis, can I take half of them later?" 

"You and I both know you won't." 

"Can you at least pretend you trust me?" 

"If I have to take mine," Arthur nudged her side with one foot, "You have to take yours." 

"Worst best friends ever." She gathered each pill into one handful and bolted them down with coffee to chase after. She gagged as soon as her airway was clear. "I hate that so  _much_." 

"It's over for now." Arthur had gone solemn, and was closing the bottles again. It wasn't as bad as it used to be. There had been more pills a year ago. A lot more. And he'd had to take them more often. 

They both had. 

Lewis sighed. "You know, it'd probably be easier if you guys took them with water." 

" Probably." Vivi admitted, and slumped against Arthur's right side. "But the coffee's the only part of it I can tolerate." 

"At least eat some more." This was a war Lewis had been losing for years. He knew better than to revisit old battlefields. In victory, Arthur and Vivi tapped their remaining cereal bars together and opened them in sync. These ones had bananas, pecans, and walnuts. The taste was still there, but the welcomed flavor of too-strong coffee washed it out. 

It took a while to choke everything down. There was only so much he could do to ignore how awful the food was without drowning the taste out with caffeine. Arthur swallowed the last mouthful, before realizing he'd finished the meal in relative peace. He checked with a quick glance, and found the back of the van unoccupied by any greedy furballs. 

Arthur tried for nonchalant. It was had to ignore the sinking feeling that was following the cereal bar into his stomach. "So, uh, where's Mystery?" 

Vivi frowned. "Up front. Still sleeping." That was unusual. Mystery rarely slept apart from Vivi. Unless he wanted to sit with someone driving alone at night, or there was a need for romantic privacy. Sure, Lewis had gotten an early start, but Mystery  _hated_  waking up before noon. "He was back here with us but...um." 

The feeling of dread made his stomach flip, and he fought the urge to gag. 

"What?" 

Vivi's eyes dropped to her bare feet. "You were talking in your sleep again." 

"...I was?" Arthur fiddled with the plastic trash leftover from breakfast. 'Granny-Ola's Balanced Breakfast Bars' glared up at him in accusatory red and orange. Half of the mascot's face remained—an elderly looking raisin-woman, which made no sense in his opinion. Her expression was probably meant to be kindly. She looked pissed. Likely because her smiling mouth was on the floor somewhere. "What'd I say?" 

He knew the answer. 

Or he could make a very educated guess. 

"...you mentioned teeth." 

Yep. 

"Yeah." He tore the wrapper in half. The raisin-woman had only one eye now, and didn't look any happier for it. "I figured." 

"He thought it'd be best to give you a little space in case you didn't wake up...you know. Ready to be around him." Vivi scooted closer to him and slung one arm over his shoulder. "Having bad dreams again, huh?" 

He shrugged. Vivi knew the answer regardless of what he said. Being noncommittal at this point wasn't the same as avoidance. At least he was pretty sure it wasn't. Might as well give a straightforward answer, just in case. "Yeah. It was a little different this time but the part that involved...well." Arthur gestured to his prosthetic. "That was the same." 

"Sorry." 

"Not your fault." 

"Thanks." She tucked in closer to his side, the faint edges of a grin twitching on her face. "But I know what I did." 

It got a laugh, if only because of old memories he still associated with the words. Old promises not to blame each other or themselves for the monumental shitfest that had come out of that cave case. They'd been equally bad at keeping their word. Arthur spent long hours wasting away and refusing to speak with anyone or eat. Vivi had thrown herself into a whirlwind of activity to drown out any negativity. She'd left herself too exhausted to feel anything, let alone heal. Between the trauma and survivor's guilt, no one could expect anything different. So they'd made jokes about it. They'd wheedled each other out of the bad spots with humor and stubborn affection. When they couldn't be happy, Vivi and Arthur could at least force each other to function as if they were. 

Suddenly weary, Arthur slumped against her. "The end was different." 

That got Vivi's attention. She squeezed his shoulder, mindful of the port for his metal arm. "You didn't fall awake this time? With the way you were flailing, I thought—" 

"Still fell." He corrected. There was a very deliberate silence coming the driver's seat. Lewis was probably trying very hard not to listen in, and failing. "But no-face you was there." 

"I still think that's creepy. I know that's the  _point_ , but just...creepy as hell. It'd be cool if she wasn't such a jerk." She nudged his head down so that more of his body weight had settled into her. Her heartbeat was steady. Almost comforting. Vivi was warm and solid and... Arthur blinked, trying to make sense of when she'd managed to prod him into a prime dozing position. Her fingers were already beginning to weave into the hair near his temple. 

"Viv." He tried for stern, but it came out muffled and drowsy. "What're you doing?" 

"Being a manipulative harpy and putting you down for a nap." She replied with honest affection. There was barely contained delight in her tone. 

He scowled up at her, but Vivi had already started to scrape her nails gently over his scalp. Her free hand curled up over his shoulder. He watched it much like one would watch a poisonous snake: with equal apprehension and respect. Then her fingertips dug into the knot of tension just above his collarbone. Arthur sighed and let himself go boneless against her side. 

Not wanting to submit without at least a token resistance: "...but I just woke up..." 

"We've got about thirty more minutes before we're going to even find somewhere to eat. You've got bags under your eyes like you're packing to go overseas." She adjusted herself so that they leaned back into the stack of pillows and her own bedding. "So. Nap time." 

"You're  _awful_." 

He'd said it once already today, but it bore repeating.  

"I know." Vivi gave him a too-sweet smile, and scratched carefully at the hair above his ear. An involuntary puff of air escaped him at her tough. Too quiet to be a groan. She was working the tension out of his neck with relentless focus. "But I don't really care." Thin strands wove around her fingers and she combed them free in slow strokes. Playing dirty again. Arthur could feel his eyes closing without his permission, and managed a quiet 'rude.' 

He snapped awake a second later. 

"Hey, hey. Easy." Vivi gave him a one-armed hug before he could slide out of her grasp. "I was about to wake you up." 

"Wha...?" He struggled upright and blinked. 

The sky outside had gotten brighter, and the van was no longer moving. Through the windshield Arthur could see the curve of a restaurant roof and the plate glass of a dining area. His arm and mouth had gone numb. Arthur gave himself a shake, and tried to clear the grit from his eyes. Everything felt scratchy, yet deadened. As if he was experiencing the world through a layer of static and cotton. 

As if he'd actually fallen asleep. 

"What was...we're there already?" 

"Yeah. You konked back out, so Lewis kept going for a bit." Vivi cracked her neck and worked on rotating her shoulders. No doubt her limbs had gone stiff after propping him up for so long "Seems like you needed the sleep. You didn't even wake up when we stopped to get gas a little while ago." She paused, looked at her sleeve, and let out a giggle. "Hah! You  _drooled_  on me, you doofus. Gross." 

Arthur wiped at his chin and sure enough, there was spit all along his cheek. And a wet patch on her shoulder. "Well." He searched for a defense, and settled for nothing concrete. Time for an old favorite argument. "You used devil magic to knock me out. You deserve what you get." 

"I played with your hair." She laughed, already moving to change. 

" _Devil magic_." 

"Sure. Believe what you want. We all know the truth." Vivi snickered and hauled out a new shirt and sweater. "Lewis is already getting us a table, so you can go ahead and get clean clothes on too." 

Arthur looked toward the front. "Is Mystery already up?" 

"No. I was going to get him next." 

He took a steadying breath. "I'll do it." 

Vivi's head snapped up, and she peered at him. "You don't have to." She said. Her tone was careful. Controlled. He could hear the hope she was fighting to keep out of it. "It's okay, Artie. You don't have to do anything you're not ready for." 

"I'm fine." He grinned. "I've got a little real sleep in me, and there's going to be bacon in a couple minutes if this place is halfway decent. I can handle waking up the dog." 

"The not-dog." Vivi corrected. Her gaze flicked from him to the back of the seats. "You sure?" 

"I'm sure." He shooed her. "Finish getting your clothes on and go order your food. If you hurry, you might be halfway through the menu by the time we go in after you." 

"Ha ha." 

Arthur ducked the dirty nightshirt she flung his way, and clamored over the seat. He had to maneuver his fall to the side so that he didn't land on top of Mystery. He still hit the steering wheel in the midst of his graceless somersault. The horn let out a sharp blaring noise, and Mystery jerked awake. The ( _not a dog_ ) dog's pointed ears shot to attention and his legs braced to pounce. His eyes were still bleary with sleep, but he recognized Arthur after several seconds. Mystery quickly dropped flat to the seat again. 

"Good morning, Arthur." 

"Hey." Arthur's mirth was replaced with sheepishness. That was a more sudden awakening than he'd been planning to give. "Sleep well?" 

"Enough." Mystery unfolded himself in slow movements, eyes on Arthur the entire time. He was smaller today. More in the line of a large spaniel than his usual size. He stretched upward with an arched back and shook himself, and Arthur could see him fighting off a yawn. "And you? We heard you having the nightmare." 

"I'm better." He pointed over the bench seat toward the rear doors. "Vivi tricked me into napping again." 

"Good." 

"Wow, take her side." Arthur rolled to put his head back above his legs. It took more effort that he was expecting. The steering wheel gave another aborted honk in protest. "Not like you're biased or anything." 

Mystery smirked. His mouth didn't open. "I  _do_  legally belong to her. I'm going to side with the person who feeds me." 

"We  _all_ feed you." 

"Legally." Mystery repeated. He placed his paws on the dashboard and peered out at the restaurant, his short tail wagging. "Are we only stopping for gas—" 

"Lewis already went inside." Arthur checked over his shoulder. The van rear was empty. Vivi must have slipped out after trying to assault him with laundry. "And Vivi too. So I'm pretty sure that means we're getting food." 

Mystery's ears twitched, and he turned to peer over his glasses at Arthur. "Are you sure you're alright?" 

The serious tone out of nowhere wasn't too unusual. After everything, the two of them jumped to different level of comfort more than anyone else in the group. It had taken a lot of trial and error to find an equilibrium in their friendship they could maintain. Mystery tended to over-compensate whenever that balance was under potential threat. In a show of trust, Arthur patted his prosthetic. He didn't even shake when he did it. "I'm fine. I told you. Still a little shook up, but it's nothing eating won't fix." 

"Your heartbeat is erratic." One ear was shifting in slow movements, likely following Arthur's pulse. Mystery gave him a once over and frowned. "It was slow for most of this morning, but now it's skipping beats." 

"Huh." Arthur pressed two fingers to his throat. There was a steady enough rhythm as far as he could tell, though it did feel a little sluggish. Then again, he couldn't tell the way Mystery could. " Maybe I'm still tired?" 

"Or you might be headed for another anxiety attack." Mystery took a step closer, head tilted to hear better, and seemed to remember that he was 'giving Arthur space.' Before the dog could retreat, Arthur shifted over the seat to close the gap. Mystery sat and gave him a rueful smile, then leaned against Arthur's chest. His snout quivered and he closed one eye in concentration. "... I don't think it's anything to worry about yet, but perhaps we shouldn't press our luck. You  _did_  actually take your pills this morning, didn't you? I'm not going to find them shoved under a pillow?" 

"Thank you for your faith in me." 

It was better than asking  _you knew about that?_  

"I'm only concerned, Arthur. Last time you were unable to even speak for several days and you were... It's..." Mystery took a breath. He pulled away and moved to paw the passenger door open. "Never mind. You seem alright for now, and you might be correct. Food and company could do a great deal to help. And more sleep." 

"I've already  _been_  asleep." 

Mystery gave a whuff of a laugh. "I said  _more_. Don't try to weasel out of it." The dog gave the van door a bodily shove and hopped down to the asphalt, calling back, "Get dressed. I'll tell Vivi to order you juice. Caffeine will only agitate you at this point." 

"Hey—!" 

Arthur's protest was cut off by the slam of the door. From a logical standpoint, Mystery was right. If there was an attack on the horizon, coffee was only going to make it worse. That said, it was a little irritating to have the choice made for him. Even if he would have made the exact same call should he have been given the chance. It was the principle of the thing.  

Oh well. If nothing else, he could order decaf for the taste and refuse to share from his plate. A show of defiance that wouldn't mean anything. Mystery could sneak whatever he withheld with no real trouble. The dog ( _not a dog_ ) probably wouldn't, but he  _could_. 

In truth Mystery could do a lot of things, when he set his mind to it. 

Arthur paused at that thought, frowning. That wasn't fair. Sure, the wording was vague enough, but he'd felt a little of the old bitterness just the same. Unbidden, snide remarks like that were what started fights. They were hard to stop and harder to apologize for, and he didn't  _mean_ them on top of everything. Just old pains rearing their ugly heads. He rotated the wrist of his metal arm, watching the fingers as they clenched into a fist and fell open again. Mystery had acted in the spur of the moment. It had cost an arm, but Arthur could have ended up losing a lot more. 

Being angry about it now wasn't going to bring the arm back. And he was better off with it gone, considering what an asshole the thing had turned into. Holding a grudge with only one hand was pretty impressive. 

_Heh._

Arthur yanked a new t-shirt on, found a pair of pants that looked as if he hadn't worn them yet, and pulled his vest over the lot. He ignored the odd buzz crawling along his right arm, shaking the limb so that it would properly wake. That's what he got for letting Vivi get him to pass out on top of it. His hair was going to be an absolute chore with one arm numb and the other a pain at fine motor control. No problem. Grooming could wait until Arthur had gotten eggs and at least three types of meat in him. ...and maybe he  _would_ order a cup of real coffee—that godawful taste was beginning to creep back over his tongue. Nothing quite burned your taste buds free from cottonmouth like scalding hot bean water. He'd give juice a fair chance. It'd make Mystery happy, and keep Vivi and Lewis from giving him grief for not taking care of himself. Then after that failed, he'd snag a cup of coffee to-go. 

Maybe two cups. Just in case. 

He checked the front seat (Lewis had remembered to take the keys). Then the van doors (Mystery hadn't bothered trying to lock the passenger one, but the rest were good). Finally, he made his way into the restaurant. 

It was a no-name type place, one of those stops that always sprung up next to interstates. _Gil's_ looped in neon over the main doors. The decor was tacky, leftover from the late seventies or modeled to look it. An ancient jukebox hummed merrily at the far end of the building. There were even a couple old pinball machines jammed in one corner, chiming loud enough to drown out the door's bell. Out of date it might have been, but Arthur had to give the place its dues. The dining area was wide, open, and boasted a twenty-four-hour breakfast selection. He could even see one of those pie displays on the counter. Everything else might have been hokey, but no one could argue with  _pie_. 

Lewis had managed to nab a corner booth on the far side of the building. Vivi was pressed up against his side, excitedly pointing out different parts of the menu spread on the table. She tapped one section several times. Lewis was laughing and leaning over to discuss the discount or house special she'd found. Mystery had clamored into the seat. He stared over her shoulder with ravenous intent. A glass of water had been placed in front of him. Beyond that, none of the staff seemed to be paying the dog any attention. 

Faced with such a wonderfully  _normal_ sight, Arthur couldn't help smiling. Even if only a little. With everything that they'd dealt with over the past year, moments like this never failed to make his chest go tight and warm. All of them together. Safe, and almost exactly the way everything had been before. 

Just in case, he gave the flesh of his right arm a quick pinch. 

When Vivi's face stayed where it was and Lewis' hair didn't morph into fire, he let out a sigh. Out of habit, Arthur gripped his arm and tapped out the seconds. Eight in, four held, eight out. Measured time for each breath to ground him in the now. He was here. He was awake. He was okay. 

They were going to be okay. 

A high-pitched shriek jolted him back out of the careful mantra, and Arthur hit the wall back first. His vision spun, refocusing from a wash of muddy colors into his friends again. Vivi had tilted her head back, showing some colorful advertisement to Lewis. She was in the middle of puppeting the cardboard menu up her boyfriend's arm. This far away, Arthur couldn't make out her words. From the exaggerated movements of her mouth, she was singing along to the heinous jukebox music. Lewis had pushed the thick sunglasses he wore down to peer at her with mock disapproval. She was probably getting the lyrics wrong on purpose. 

Arthur's eyes darted to the counter. The noise had been an old microwave oven in the kitchen. One of the waitresses was pulling a steaming plate of something from it. 

He forced each muscle to relax, sinking back into himself. 

Man, if his nerves were this shot, Mystery was possibly right. There was a good chance Arthur had an attack coming at some point. The dream must've gotten to him more than he thought. 

Bathroom. Arthur peeled himself off the tiled wall and reoriented. The floor was doing its damnedest to tilt and throw his balance off. If he was going to fall apart, he'd rather do it somewhere quiet and with running water. He had to fight the urge to sprint for the door boldly labelled  _MENS_. If there was anything cartoons had gotten right about the supernatural, it was that running was a surefire way to get it to notice you. He didn't need Mystery or Lewis keying in on him and getting wound up. 

Just a little space. A minute to himself. 

The restroom was bigger than he'd expected. Two stalls and a wide counter with a deep sink and soap dispenser. He went straight for the tap and twisted it up into cold. Water spilled over his hand, numbing the fingers and sending gooseflesh up past his elbow. The humming pressure at the back of his mind was deadened beneath the rushing water. He forced himself back into the counting process. Slow, deep breaths. 

He cupped some of the water and splashed it up over his face. It was freezing, which Arthur was grateful for even though it stung like hell. Anything to remind him of where he was. Anything to keep his stomach from lurching its way up into his throat. Anything to keep his overclocked brain from trying to convince him that any minute now the walls were going to fade out and he'd be  _falling_ — 

Nope. 

No. 

Not going there. 

Arthur tucked his head down, pressing his eyes and the bridge of his nose into the nook created by his right arm. Darkness helped, sometimes. The spinning would pass after a second, it always did, and then he could ask Vivi for an anti-nausea pill. Get his food to-go. He could eat once he didn't feel like he was going to lose whatever he choked down. 

"I'm fine." He drew a slow breath in, ticked down each number as if he was waiting for a bomb to go off, and finally let it out again. The vertigo already seemed to be fading. "I'm  _fine_. I've  _got_  this." 

From beyond the bathroom door, he could make out the sound of someone calling for a manager. Noises from the restaurant area—tinkling silverware and glasses, footsteps, idle chatter—filtered through again. A cold sweat had broken out over his forehead, mingling with the tap water. Stiffened muscles were uncoiling, one by one. Arthur slumped in relief. Good. Apparently, all he'd needed was to ride this out. It sucked, but he'd suffered through a lot worse. It could have been more than anxiety and bad dreams rocketing around in his head. 

"Okay." Arthur pulled himself up and started running wet fingers through his hair. He concentrated on raking out the tangles and letting himself get lost in  _not_  looking like a wreck. He was going to need a comb to make any real headway. Vivi had been curling her fingers in his hair while he slept, and it had left little knotted coils behind. Some liberally applied hair product wouldn't hurt either. 

A soft tap came from behind him, and Arthur's eyes shot up to the reflection of the bathroom door. Lewis poked his head through the open doorway a moment later, worry evident on his face. 

"Hey." Arthur let out a rush of air then grimaced. He felt like a dying balloon, and he'd bet that he sounded like one too. 

"Hey." Lewis inched his way into the bathroom, easing the door closed behind him. Arthur was suddenly glad that he hadn't thought to try locking the deadbolt. It wouldn't have stopped Lewis coming to check on him, but with as jittery as Arthur already was? Someone phasing into the room behind him was bound to knock him right back into a proper anxiety attack. As it was, Lewis was doing a good job of being non-threatening. "I saw you head in here a second ago. Mystery said you still weren't feeling well." 

"I'm good." 

It wasn't a lie. Apart from the way his mouth was burning and his lack of feeling in his right hand, he was doing pretty good. He made his way to the air-dryer, clenching his fingers on both hands as he went. The sooner he got the right one warmed back up, the better. Head off that little voice that was going to start in about the  _last time_  he couldn't feel his hand. 

The last time he and Lewis were  _alone_  together— 

Stop that. 

"I'm fine." 

"Are you sure?" Lewis moved away from the door, keeping easily-crossed space between them. "Because you're shaking. And I've known you long enough to know 'I'm fine' isn't always 'I'm fine.'" 

"I'd  _like_  to be fine, then. Better?" Arthur jabbed the dryer's button and scowled when the air didn't come. He gave it another press. Nothing. "What's with this thing…?" 

"It's out of order." Lewis mused behind him. There was laughter in his voice, full and warm and just a little smug. Arthur peered back at him. Lewis shrugged and chewed on his bottom lip, an all-too-obvious effort at not grinning. The longer Arthur stared him down, the more Lewis fidgeted. "There's a sign. On your left." 

Arthur looked back. 

So there was. 

A sheet of lined paper was taped next to the hand-dryer, with its message written out in large, bold print. There were too many i's and too few e's, but he could still make out the idea: 'Sorry for your inconvenience.' A bright red arrow was scrawled beneath the apology. It pointed toward four tall stacks of paper towels on the countertop. He'd missed the thickly drawn words, the obvious arrow, the paper towels. He'd even missed the second note with the huge smiley face and speech bubble that proclaimed 'Help yourself!' Talk about tunnel vision. 

"Wow, Lew. I'm impressed." Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Lewis straighten. "How did you break the air dryer  _already_? We've been here what? Twenty minutes?" Arthur swiped a few towels from the nearest stack. The reflection of his best friend was a twisted grimace of indignation and fish-mouthing. Arthur took a moment to be somewhat proud—both of himself for making Lewis completely forget about tiptoeing around him, and of the ghost for the leaps and bounds he'd made in his illusions. The sharp light of fluorescent bulbs was unforgiving to the supernatural. Here, despite the brightness and white walls, Lewis looked entirely solid. 

Alive. 

And more than a little indignant. 

"I—! What—!" Lewis sputtered. "I did not!" 

" _Suuuuure_." Arthur drawled, warm with satisfaction. He tossed the wadded remains of his towel into the garbage. It teetered on the corner for several seconds before dropping to the restroom floor. Lewis scowled at him and marched to pick the trash up without waiting for Arthur to change course. 

"You and Vivi both." Lewis muttered, though whether he was referring to Arthur's jabs or his failed two-point wasn't clear. Which was likely as much of a derailment as he could hope for right now. The image of his hair flickered, giving off a faint light and little wafts of flame as he gave Arthur another long look. "I can go get Vivi, if that would help." 

Arthur couldn't stifle a snort of laughter. "It's the  _mens_  room." 

"Do you think that would stop her?" Lewis' mouth curved, a smile beginning to form as he watched Arthur struggle not to laugh. "You could go back out to the van? Stay where it's quiet for a little while?" 

With one palm already pressed flat to the door, Arthur considered the offer. It was an easy out. There was still a barely-felt sensation of needles pricking under his skin, still a buzz of static hovering on the edge of his senses, still that awful burn of nausea on his tongue and throat. "I don't need to." 

"Are you sure?" Lewis seemed unconvinced. His hair was beginning to swirl and disperse into light, flickering as he looked Arthur over. "You don't have to force yourself. We're not going to get mad about you wanting a break—" 

"I don't  _want_  a break. I just want fucking  _breakfast_." He wasn't thinking when he slammed his fist into the door frame. The metal gave a screech of protest, and the paint and stucco gave way under the blow. It wasn't bent out of shape, luckily, but there was definitely a noticeable dent. Fragments of cheap plaster settled onto his arm and the floor below.  

Arthur tore himself away from the door at the same time Lewis jerked upright. The ghost was visibly distressed and more than a little angry at the outburst. 

" **_Arthur!_ ** " 

Wrong voice, wrong tone, wrong  _wrong_ _wrong_ — 

Every hair on his arms and neck stood at attention. His spine went stiff, fighting for his balance against a ledge that wasn't there, legs trying to fold until his back found the wall. Air stuttered somewhere in his chest, burning through him as he tried to gasp for air. He was shaking. The restroom was too small, Lewis was too close, and he must have inhaled some of the dust from where he'd damage the wall. A clawing itch was scrabbling up his throat, and he sputtered around the following cough. 

"Oh—!" Lewis had jolted backwards himself and nearly fallen into the stall behind him. There was nowhere to go to put any real distance between them. "I'm—...I'm sorry, I didn't." He stepped to the side, so the thin stall partition was between them. "I can get Vivi. Do you...do I need to...?"  

Arthur gagged, digging his fingers into his shirt and holding on for dear life. Each breath had a croak wavering on the exhale. It was wet and haggard, and did nothing to clear his throat. It'd be better if he let himself cough and get it over with. "I'm fine." He managed after a moment, voice hoarse. He shoved the heel of his flesh hand against one cheek. There weren't any tears to wipe away, but his eyes were dangerously blurred. "I'm fine, it's just...nothing, I wasn't expecting it." 

"You're not fine, Arthur." There was still a little too much force behind the words. Nothing like a moment ago, when Lewis had said his name wreathed in spectral power. For a moment it hadn't mattered that the ground was flat or that the room well-lit or that Lewis had been five feet away. Arthur had been about to fall and Lewis had been  _furious_ and...and...  

"I'm..." Arthur hiccupped, and tried to steady himself. "Yeah, no. I'm not." He sighed and let himself exhale fully, slowly, and counted to eight. Then he sucked in a deep breath.  

And choked. 

"Arthur!" Lewis was there in a moment, helping keep him upright. One large, too-warm hand curled around Arthur's shoulder. In spite of his skin crawling and his lungs trying to exit through his mouth, it was comforting. Arthur coughed and hacked, and finally a wet cluster of petals fell onto the floor and the tops of his shoes.  

They both stood together for a silent moment, staring.  

"Okay." Arthur said, blinking and finding that yes, there was indeed a mass of purple...well, what looked like little bell-shaped flowers. "I...I guess I swallowed them?"  

Lewis crouched down next to him. The hand didn't leave Arthur's shoulder. His hair was real and solid again, and his glowing eyes were barely visible through the sunglasses he'd adjusted on his face. Almost perfect, almost  _alive_. He picked one of the petals up, in spite of Arthur's disgust. "Or you might have breathed them in when you woke up." 

"Don't touch them." Arthur groaned. "Those were in my  _mouth_ , big guy." 

"I'm pretty sure I'm immune to anything on them." Lewis tried for careful joviality, but it fell flat. He turned to give Arthur a once over, and frowned. Of course he'd notice Arthur was still trembling. "Do you need help getting out of here?" 

Another free pass. Arthur could book it straight for the van and hide under the covers. They didn't have to acknowledge that he'd just had a meltdown because Lewis had raised his voice. 

"...yeah." Arthur sank against him. "We should go ahead and let Vivi know I'm not good for eating right now, too." 

That got Lewis to straighten up and curl both arms around him. Arthur shoved his face into the illusion of cotton-blend vest, and tried to control his breathing. He couldn't tell whether he wanted to be held or wanted fifty miles between him and anyone else for the next year. Everything felt too loud, too jagged on his nerves. Heavy fingertips rubbed circles into the back of his neck and...that helped, somehow. 

"We can still bring you something to eat later." Lewis said, voice quiet. "Bacon? Eggs?" 

"Coffee?" 

There was a soft chuckle Arthur felt more than heard. "Not a chance." 

"Ugh. Spoilsport." Arthur turned his head and eyed the door. Outside of this room, he was going to have to pull himself together at least enough to get to the van. He'd want to at least wave at Vivi. By now, she'd probably guessed he was having an attack in here. Could he hold it together long enough to sit at the booth and let them get something to-go? ...maybe. "Yeah. I'll order something." 

"Alright." Lewis gave his shoulder a squeeze and pulled away so Arthur was standing on his own again. His grip slid down to hold Arthur's hand instead, and that was...well. The knotted feeling of dread loosened, and Arthur felt a little steadier. "Come on. If you need to bolt, I'll cheat for you, and Mystery can cover our tracks." 

Arthur couldn't help the fitful laugh that brought. It took a few aborted tries to get his hand on the door again, but he found purchase and shoved it open. Lewis all but guided him through it, and he was grateful for it. His feet didn't seem to want to support him. "You're not supposed to teleport where people can see you." 

"That's why it's cheating." Lewis answered, warmth flowing back into his voice. He raised his hand to gesture for Vivi's attention as they rounded the corner. She locked onto them immediately. Her eyes swept over their sorry state, and offered a smile tinged with rueful understanding. She slid out of the booth and headed toward the counter to let the waitress know they wouldn't be eating in after all.  

Mystery paused in the middle of tearing into what appeared to be a meat-filled omelet. The dog straightened. Red eyes narrowed as he watched them approach. His ears flicked, twitching in different directions before pricking forward. 

And then he was on the table, barking as if he'd lost his ever-loving mind. 

Lewis drew up short, looking as startled as Arthur felt. The rest of the diner became aware of the canine in their midst that had definitely _not_ been there before. Vivi spun on her heel to stare back at the not-dog. Mystery paid her no mind and gave no quarter, sounding an alarm that was starting to peeter out... 

The room was growing darker. Lewis' arms curled around Arthur's waist as he sank downward— 

Oh.  

Oh, that was the— 

 

* * *

 

 


End file.
